


An Exercise In Indulgence

by AutoTragedyCollection



Series: A Storyteller At Heart [2]
Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Crossdressing, F/M, Flirting, Mild Smut, Non-Human Jaskier | Dandelion, Oxenfurt Academy (The Witcher), Poetry, Top Jaskier | Dandelion, Valdo Marx Being an Asshole, Vanilla, seriously jaskier is smooth as hell here I'm so proud
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:13:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25831117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutoTragedyCollection/pseuds/AutoTragedyCollection
Summary: The year is 1240, Julian, or as he will now be known, Jaskier, is on the cusp of graduating when he meets Victoria, the Countess de Stael. Who knows where it could lead?(I do. In great detail actually, but that's for me to write and you to find out.)
Relationships: Jaskier | Dandelion/ Countess De Stael, Jaskier | Dandelion/Original Female Character(s)
Series: A Storyteller At Heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784794
Kudos: 5





	An Exercise In Indulgence

_"Oh dandelion, short and scorned,_

_Though of sunny heritage once was born,_

_Now considered dreadful weed,_

_But used for wish or divination deed,_

_And so I, of cherished birth,_

_choose your cousin of the earth,_

_the creeping buttercup, Jaskier,_

_to spread my words and music, fair."_

With a wave of his hand and quick bow, Julian- well, his name was Jaskier now, finished his naming poem. It was short, simple, but fulfilled the requirements of the assignment, and he couldn't think of a more fitting moniker for him to take in preparation for his graduation; he was seventeen now, almost eighteen. After all, he wasn't planning on returning to Lettenhove, not when he now had a skill to share with the continent. He intended to be far to busy performing for courts to ever consider running one.

The polite applause lasted only a few seconds as he was the last student of the day to perform, and he could hear Valdo scoffing the quality of his lines over it.

" _Cherished birth_? Since when has anyone ever cherished that whoreson?"

Jaskier huffed and rolled his eyes, not bothering to give his nemesis' prattling a response.

"What nothing to say? Did you spend too much of your wit on such a paltry composition?"

Okay, maybe a little response would be alright. "No Valdo," He waved a hand in front of his eyes, and made a great show of rifling through his pockets. "I just can't seem the place the last fuck I have set aside to give you. Please, accept my apologies, I shan't ever repay your generosity."

"Never could, not since your parents won't have you, you'll be penniless without them."

A few years ago that comment would've set his cheeks on fire, but now he took it calmly. His face didn't betray the plans he now had for the last of the cowage he'd been saving for just such an occasion.

The herbalist he'd bought it from had raised an eyebrow at the quantity, but it was well worth the results.

"Spoken like a troubadour who kept his name." A warm voice, though undoubtedly thick with judgement, sounded from the back of the room.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Valdo snarled, collecting his things since the class was dismissed.

"You've never grown enough to warrant a new title." She chuckled, as though she were admonishing a small child. The woman who spoke was making her way down the row of auditorium steps. She was dressed in a simple, elegant dress of white and black that hugged her curves and complimented her dark hair charmingly. There was a glitter of humor in her brown eyes as she appraised them. She was clearly older than the two of them, with a wide set to her hips and a broadness to her shoulders that only came with age- or perhaps pride.

Jaskier was immediately a bound man.

Valdo's face stilled, and outwardly he made no further response as finished packing his things, but a flush was creeping up his neck to color his face a startling shade of red. He waved politely with a muttered farewell and then hurried off, much to Jaskier's delight.

"And who might you be, who has so blessedly rid me of that weasel? A fellow student perhaps?"

"A visitor." She smiled and extended a hand towards him.

"I should have known."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and her hand that was still in his.

"I would have noticed a woman of your countenance some time ago." He brushed his lips gently across her knuckles and released her hand, grinning all the while. "Jaskier the bard, at your service."

"Another woman may have found that rather uncouth." Her tone was flat and she frowned.

"But you didn't." He winked.

The corner of her mouth twitched into a smile, "Victoria." She tucked an invisible stray hair behind her ear and turned away from him, but offered an arm. "Walk with me? I'd like to hear more about your work."

As they meander through the halls of Oxenfurt they exchanged a playful banter. He was most certain that even if she was truthful and not a student at the academy, she must have been at some point, there would be no other explanation for how well-educated and witty she was. The way she carried herself and her accent spoke of nobility, certainly.

At least an hour of conversation had passed by the time they arrived at door in the staff rooms.

"The petrarchan sonnet is the superior of the six forms." Victoria insisted.

"What makes it better than the others, surely they all have their place?"  
"Of course, but the sestet being the answer to the octave adds a wonderful layer to such a simple form of poetry. So many poems ask questions and only dance around the conclusions-" Her voice lowered, and she squeezed his arm meaningfully, before turning to look at his face. "Avoiding the answer to an obvious proposition." Her gaze dropped to his lips, and he felt a flair of heat in his stomach.

"I think I'd rather study this in long form." Jaskier leaned in so his words brushed warmly on her cheek, and noticed the little shiver in her shoulders with a hint of pride.

"You need only ask." Victoria's lids fluttered shut.

"And will you answer?" He teased gently, sliding his hands over her bodice and enjoying the warmth of her.

In the place of a reply she pressed bodily against him, pressing their lips together. Out of respect, Jaskier kept the kiss short and chaste, and pulled away to ask, "Shall we-"

But Victoria compelled him forward with a hand on the back of his neck, and pressed him against the door. After a short while of persistent kisses, the door gave way, and he found himself in what in other circumstances would have been a room for a guest speaker, or a teacher. Instead, it was hers, and several trunks clearly filled with the paraphernalia of a wealthy woman lined the walls- as did an impressive vanity that surely had not come with the room. The bed was something to behold; it was one of the staff rooms customary four posters, but instead of the plain sheets typically adorning it, instead there was a spread of white silk covers, embroidered in dazzling patterns with salmon colored thread.

His attention, however, was not allowed to linger on such things as the interior decorating as he was soon distracted by sure hands undoing the ties of his trousers.

Despite the temptation that she offered, he pulled her hands away, and brought them to his lips.

"We needn't bother with that yet." Jaskier said gently against her knuckles.

She blinked at him, unsure of what he meant.

He slid his hands around her waist and began to untie the complicated laces of her dress. With his face pressed into the crook of her neck he whispered, "Allow me to pleasure you first, if I may?"

Victoria wound her hands into his hair, "Do you desire it?" She gasped when he nibbled at her jaw.

"I would love nothing more."

His adventures thus far at the academy had given him much time to learn art of sex, and while he wasn't sure enough of himself to call himself a master, he was rather confident in this particular area. He had checked afterall, and double-checked... and triple-checked.

When he finally had her bare and laid out before him, it wasn't long before she was trembling under his tongue. She did make lovely sounds, and he was a committed man long before her first orgasm.

"If my husband had hands like yours I would never leave his bed." She sighed, finally relaxing against the pillows and unwinding her legs from his shoulders.

He hummed against her, resting his head on her stomach and listening to her heart gradually slow. This would mark the first time he'd slept with a married woman. He'd been with a fellow student who was engaged to be married, but she hadn't been yet, so it didn't quite count, and in any case he had loved her too, and had sent her off back home with a fair few pleasant memories and wet cheeks.

"Perhaps you could teach him?" He offered, unsure if that was a correct response, but hopeful.

She giggled, "Oh no, no. He much prefers the company of men, once I had a son- we only share a bed on the most special of occasions now." She pet his head, and he gave her a gentle squeeze with his arms around her middle.

"I was about your age when we married, perhaps a little older."

"Then I am lucky for the chance to entertain a woman more experienced than myself." He pressed a kiss to her soft belly, and left a trail of them in his wake as me crawled up her body to claim her mouth.

When they broke apart she replied, "And I am lucky to have a partner so young and willing in my middle age." She cupped his cheeks and offered him what would have been an innocent peck both their states not been so naked and obvious.

"Now that I am sated and helpless, oh sacred prodigy," Victoria teased sweetly with a roll of her eyes, "However shall you have your way with me."

He tapped his chin in mock thought where he lay, propped on his elbows above her. "Hmm... Perhaps I have the energy for another venture, but maybe I am needed elsewhere..." As part of the reuse, he moved to leave and was startled into laughter by hands clutching shamelessly at his arse, grinding his growing erection against her.

"I can entreat for the rest of the night I'm sure?" She grinned hungrily and rolled her hips up to meet him, his length dipped into her folds where she was still delightfully warm and wet, and he shuddered out a breath at the sensation.

"Gentle woman, I fear my youth may betray me-" He was cut off by a moan when she wrapped a hand around him and began a quick rhythm.

"You've more than proven yourself."

He groaned through his release into a kiss that was more breath than tongue a short time later. When his breath finally evened, he pulled away to look at her face.

There were fine lines around her eyes that he hadn't noticed before, but they certainly didn't detract from her beauty, and the blush that floated high on her cheeks was nearly as stunning as her smile.

"What?" She asked, her smile turning rather inquisitive.

He laughed, and he let his head fall between her breasts. "Nothing, save that I am quite taken with you, wondrous creature. If tonight is the last I'll see you I may die a brokenhearted man."

"Then perhaps, if in the morning I'm graced with an encore... You could visit me in Stael? I'm sure my son, Faramond would find you very entertaining, as would my court one day."

He whipped his head up, hurriedly pushing the flop of hair that fell in his eyes away, "But you haven't even heard me play yet!"

"If you perform on stage as well as you do in bed then I'm sure you're up to my standards. I am under the impression you aim to be an expert in as many arts as possible. If you build a reputation for yourself, a repertoire of original works, you'd be welcome a longer stay."

His stomach dropped, in both anxiety and excitement. This could be the exact opportunity he was looking for. He wasn't eager to stay in a court, but it would provide lodging for the winter, coin, status- everything a troubadour needed. He didn't want to seem naive, but was hardly one to pass up any opportunity. "I won't let you down Victoria, when I'm ready I'll send a letter ahead of myself."

"In the meantime," She she reached between them to trail her fingers through the spend on her stomach and licked it away with a coy smile, if he hadn't just come moments before he would've been hard again at that.

"I'd rather not ruin the sheets, if you could-" She gestured to the vanity, where there was a basin and a cloth.

"Of course."

He wiped them both down carefully, the cool water was a relief to both of their sweat warmed bodies.

When he was finished, she riffled through several trunks to find sleeping wear, and he was surprised when she held out a knee-length chemise to to him.

Jaskier took it from her, marveling at the soft fabric that slipped through his fingers. "I can wear this?" He pressed it against his cheek in wonder.

Victoria smiled warmly, almost motherly. "You can wear whatever you like, and don't allow anyone to tell you different."

"Oh." No one had ever said such things to him, not when he'd grown up in court where presentation was everything. But in truth he couldn't see any error in her words. He wouldn't judge someone for feeling comfortable, why should he deny himself the same courtesy? Though this was meant for someone of the opposite sex it wasn't nearly as gaudy as some of the finery he'd endured as a child at his parent's request. With those thoughts in mind he slipped it over his head. It was an exercise in indulgence, and one he deserved.

When he laid with her that night, he slept soundly, with his arms around her and his chest to her back. He would see her again he knew, but it wasn't her who danced through his dreams, but someone with bright golden eyes and white hair. A medallion he couldn't quite make out gleamed in sunlight, and unfamiliar chords and words about the edge of the world drifted through the air unnoticed.

In the morning all thoughts of writing it down were snatched by wandering hands and lips, and he found he could not regret the music's absence.

**Author's Note:**

> oof, this part has been a long time coming. I'm going to address the elephant in the room first though. That age gap... A swe know, in this part, Jaskier is still technically a minor at only 17. Victoria is mentioned as being middle aged, I'm picturing her at 34. This is supposed to be creepy. No, Jaskier does not see it this way. It's not addressed here and that's intentional, it will be in later parts, so you'll just have to stick with me for the conclusion. The age gap is part of why I kept the smut so mild. (Age gap relationships are not something that really bothers me when all parties are in similar life stages and are adults functionally, that's not the case here though, so take that as you will.)  
> Anyways. There's one more part between this and A Willing Audience, and then the story line will progress normally. There's a lot to come, so I hope you're enjoying the ride!  
> As usual, feel free to message me on tumblr, or give me a follow to get more frequent updates, here at [ Tragedy Writes](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/autotragedywrites).
> 
> oh and if you were wondering, cowage is the name of a plant that has medicinal uses, but is also effectively and itching powder when properly processed. poor valdo.


End file.
